Attaching device.



H. J. POTTER.

ATTAGHIHG DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED M121, 1911.

. Patentd May 28, 1912.

-2 SHEETEi-SHEET 1.

H. J. POTTER.

ATTACHINGDEVICE. I APPLIGATIONPILEI? FEB.2 l,-191l. V v 1,027,431. vPatented May 28, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

i Q- then bent approximately at rightangles at 12 and curved about I) at13, embracing 1t UNITED STATES PATENT oFFioE- HARRY J. POTTER,or'nEwToN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To Dennison MANU- FACTURING COMPANY,or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION orMAsS GHUSETTS.

ATTACHING DEVICE.

(Patented May 28,1912.

Application filed February 21, 1911. Serial No. 610,018.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatl, HARRY J. Power, a citizen of the United States,residing at Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Attaching Device, of whichthe following is a specification.

. The requirements with respect to devices for attaching tags to suchobjects as bales of cotton and other material are exceptionally severe.They must possess the oapab1lity of being quickly and securely appliedtothe bale by a person neither intelligent nor 1 deft; and they mustresist accidental. dis-' placement under rough handling and removalbythe meddlesome 'or malicious, yet when desired must .be readilydetachable by those authorized. It is further important that the face ofthe tag shall be held outwardly close to the bale, or in a plane sub,stantially parallel thereto. The device here:

inafter described and claimed etfectually attains all these objects, andis, moreover, very simple, referably consisting of one integral piece ofwire bent to the proper form, and

may therefore be cheaply manufactured.

One embodiment of my attaching device I is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- 4 Figure 1 is a front elevation; Fig. 2

-. is a side elevation; Fig. 3 an end view;

Fig. 4' shows the device during the act of applying it to a bale, itbeing at the forward extreme of its engaging thrust;

Fig.- 5 illustrates it drawn back into final l engagement; Fig. 6' showsa position of the device during detachment; and Fig. 7 shows a-tag inplace upon a bale.

In all figures of the drawings like characters are applied to similarelements.

As indicated, my improved tag-fastener A consists of a single piece ofwire bent at a int-0 .a general 'U-form; that is, having two "adjacentarms I; and 0 extending from=their curved uncture. The arm I) terminatesin a sharpened engaging or entering projection v 10; while theassociated arm 0 at some disabout 180. Near the end this are comesvtance inwardlyffrom the extremity of 6 first diverges from the latter at11, and is through an arc, which, asQillustratedge, is

'into yieldable contact at 13 with the enter ing member, they beingforced toward one ,another by the spring of the arms. This curvedportion furnishes a stop-shoulder and fulcrum, as will hereinafter moreclearly appear. vAt 1d the member 0 is 'again bent so that it extends ina sharpened engaging or lockingprojection 15 which diverges from themember or arm 7), and also rearwardly from the plane of the two shankportions of the arms, it extending across the same at an acute angletoboth shank port-ions, with its point'at the opposite side from theangle 12.

Then the arms 6 and 0 are freed from engagement with one another,andsprung apart at their outer or entering and locking. extremities, atag may he slipped over the former. A type of tag adapted for use with Iprovided with a bent portion or recess 15*,

equal in length [0 the distance between the tag-eyelets and extendingaway from the 'arm 0. Opposite this recess ,the arm 0 has two lateralprojections 16, 16, conveniently formed by bending the wire intoopposite arcs of circles, these lying approximately in a plane at rightangles to that of the shanks. The extremity 10- of the arm 7) is firstinserted in the eyelet e from the front. side of the tag and then fromthe rear through eyelet cl, and said tag drawn down until the portionbetween the eyelets rests' 1n the recess, it being thereby permitted tolie unbent and is retained-against return movement along the shank. Thetag also tends to'remain in substantially thesanle plane, so that uponattachment to an object its face will always be visible, since the pro---jections 16, 16. contact with it if it rocks about the arm Z) ineitherdirection and limit such displacement. y I

In applying the tag to a bale the device A is grasped near the junctureof the arms, the thumb of the userconveniently resting upon thebroadened portion furnished by the projections 16, which thus add totheir other functions that of a finger-hold, and also give rigidity -tothe device, which is an important. feature, in that it furnishesresistance to the stress applied by the user. The extremity 10 is thenthrust into thebale reached, the angle of the projection 15 forcing thefabric by the point 14 onto this shoulder (see Fig. 5). The device isnow held by the shoulder and by the spring enga ement of the arms at Iiiagainst 101%?- tu inal movement in either direction.

points 12 and 14 rest against the face of the bale and prevent thefastener from turnin axially and this, combined with the pecu iarconstruction of the tag-retainin tion, holds the face of the tag parallewith the surface of the bale,.where the inscription may be easily read.Since both engaging projections are entirely concealed behind thefabric, one unaco uainted with the device will find diiliculty inremoving it, yet the informed user, without special effort or a skill,seizing the holding or finger portion has only to turn the deviceright-handedly about its axis until the fabric clears the stop-shoulderand then press upwardl until the. locking projection is free. A urtherrotation of the device upon the angle 12 as a fulcrum (Fig. .6) sprn 1gsthe arms from one another and rals'es the locking projec tion above 'thefabric when a. pull wlt-hdrawsthe entering projection and releases theentire device.

por

I claimt a 1. An attaching device comprising connected members lyingfirst substantially parallel to one another, one of said memers beingprovided with an entering point, and the other member being curvhd aboutits companion member in a plane substantially at rightangles thereto andthen ex-- holding means, one of said members. eing provided with anenterin point, and the other member diverging rom its com anion and thenbeing curved about the same, the curved portion and the juncture ,of thediverging and curved portions giving, respectively, a stop-shoulder anda releasing fulcrum, the curved member beyond the stop shoulderextending in a direction opposite'to the enterin point and crossing theparallel portions of t e members and diverging rearwardly from the planeof said members, itterminating in a locking point.

Signed at South Framingham, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, this 6th day of February, 1911.

HARRY J. POTTER. Witnesses:

B. D. ALLIsoN, Tno ms G. Pon'rmonn.

